5 Resources for Learning WordPress and Web Development
There is so much information on the web about web development, design, and WordPress that’s it’s easy to lose focus. We only have so much time on our hands, after all! Here’s a short list of learning resources that have proven to be the most useful to me.
1. Web Design University
WebDesign.com has become one of my favorite sites for learning WordPress. What’s so great about it? Webinars and video courses! Add to that a great instructor, Benjamin Bradley, and a live webinar chat – and you have the makings of a great learning experience. WebDesign.com does have an annual membership fee, which I highly recommend purchasing if you are serious about WordPress. Still, the site offers free webinars on a regular basis. Here’s 2 that are coming up:
Friday, September 17th, 11am-Noon – Manipulating images and graphics with CSS
Monday, September 20th, 11am-Noon – Custom Post Types
Go to http://webdesign.com/events/ to learn more and register for a free webinar.
Members have access to all recorded webinars plus 60+ hours of instruction. Here’s a sample of the courses they offer:
- Web Design with WordPress
- Design Hacks Workshop & Course
- WordPress Developers Course
- Starting a Successful Freelance Web Design Business
- Project Managment for Web Design
- Blogging Your Way to Professional Success
- Web Design Business & Consultant Course
- Making Your Website a Marketing Hub
Be sure to check them out!
2. CSS-Tricks
CSS-Tricks.com is probably the #1 blog I frequent. As web development community headed by Chris Coyier, CSS-Tricks was instrumental in teaching me to make my first WordPress theme via screencast. The site currently lists 91 videos on various web design/development topics. In addition to the blog, there are some cool free downloads, tons of useful snippets of code, and an active forum community.
Here’s the latest screencasts:
3. Digging into WordPress
Digging into WordPress is a blog by Chris Coyier and Jeff Star, focusing exclusively on WordPress. It’s a companion site to their awesome new book by the same title. Get started learning WordPress here!
4. Sitepoint
I’m currently delving into Sitepoint‘s PHP Live course, and I’m enjoying every minute of it. The combination of video+articles makes learning fun and easy. In addition to several web development courses, they offer some really great books as well as a very nice reference for HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Don’t foget the blog and articles – they house a treasure full of information to help you become a better web developer.
5. W3Schools
And of course, I couldn’t go without mentioning W3Schools.com. This is the first site I came across back when I was learning HTML. W3Schools is full of tutorials on HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, and more. There’s a full reference for each language as well. What is neat about this site is the interactive examples provided throughout the tutorials that help you understand how the code works.
So take a look around at these sites and be prepared to learn something new!